Stories by Angela Jeffrey

Every year, senior level PR research and measurement aficionados trek to exotic locales for the Annual AMEC (International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communications) European Measurement Summit. The Summit has grown from a small gathering in Berlin to a mecca for the latest thinking in the measurement industry.

Most online readers leave the Web page at (or before) the 60% point of a scroll, according to a recent Chartbeat study. The U.S. digital video sector earned a combined $6.3 billion in revenue, and $9.4 billion globally in 2012, according to AccuStream Research.

It’s one of those conversations that starts casually, but that can quickly become all consuming if you’re not prepared. You’ve been there before.

Bringing two organizations together is tough. When you’re merging disciplines as well as cultures, it’s tougher still.

As PR professionals, we understand the value of a well-written, timely press release. As a crucial part of any successful public relations strategy, a press release provides you with an opportunity to boost company visibility and have control of the news that’s being shared.

While you can gush mentions about your brand until you are blue in the face, and Kim Kardashian can tweet about your brand until she breaks a nail, the two of you may cause awareness but lack the audience loyalty and trust to cause notable action.

Multiple social and digital platforms are replacing traditional media. These platforms move faster and cross boundaries more easily than national media.

The theme for this year’s Counselors Academy spring meeting—which took place in Austin, Texas—was dubbed “WEIRD,” an acronym for Wired, Entrepreneurial, Imaginative and Results-Driven. The moniker of the meeting was a play on the city’s slogan: Keep Austin Weird.

Mobile users reach for their devices early and often to find local information. Companies often find themselves focusing more on external communications to maintain a favorable public image.

Social media is increasingly becoming a required skill in almost any field, whether you are in marketing, sales, communications, engineering or human resources. And if your current job has social, digital or media in your title—whether at a Fortune 500 company or a startup—part of your job is to evangelize the importance and value of social across the company.